Cataract surgery improves quality of life

Pubblicato il

Wednesday, 22 February 2023

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Surgical Area

Cataracts are the world's leading cause of curable blindness and are caused by opacification of the crystalline lens, a small lens about 10mm in diameter located in the front segment of the eye that helps us focus on objects. The crystalline lens tends to become opaque with age and this obstructs the passage of light, causing a reduction in visual capacity.

The cataract surgeryhas undergone a real revolution over the past 20 years, becoming more efficient, safer and faster. In fact, thanks to new surgical techniques, as many as 95% of patients manage to substantially improve their visual acuity after surgery.

This is a very important achievement, combined with the prevention of serious secondary complications, such as glaucoma and uveitis, which cataracts could induce when they progress in their natural course.

Recourse to cataract surgery therefore entails, an undoubted advantage for the regained visual acuity, which is also reflected in everyday life, with a significant improvement in general physical health, cognitive functions and emotional well-being.

Indeed, recent studies suggest that poor eyesight can have a much greater impact on patients' lives than previously thought and is comparable to very serious medical conditions, such as stroke. For example, decreased vision is sometimes associated with subsequent physical disability, in particular due to hip fractures in women, and with reduced quality of life in general.

Many studies have shown that cataract surgery, by improving visual acuity, i.e. the eye's ability to resolve fine details, is also an advantage in all those daily activities that are dependent on precision vision.

Cataract surgery and improving physical and cognitive well-being

Several studies have shown that visual impairment is strongly associated with quality of life. In fact, there are many areas of everyday life that are directly affected by reduced visual capacity due to cataracts and that can be improved by the surgical approach.

For example, reduced visual acuity due to cataracts has been associated with an increased risk of falls in the elderly, which can have a huge impact on general wellbeing, causing sudden deterioration in health, forced hospitalisation, and even significant mortality. Visual functions that can affect the likelihood of falls include not only visual acuity, but also contrast sensitivity, depth perception and visual field. Some of these parameters can be influenced and improved through cataract surgery. Several studies conducted on very large cohorts of patients show a decrease in the rate of falls in older people after cataract surgery.

Since, in most cases, cataracts occur bilaterally, affecting both eyes and impairing binocular vision, cataract removal in the second eye can be very important to improve binocular vision and prevent falls to an even greater extent.

Improved visual function following cataract surgery has also been shown to be associated with a better quality of life in terms of general health.

In several clinical studies, patients report improved mental and emotional well-being, better social interactions, and improvements in reading, watching television, and recognising people.

Cataracts are, in fact, considered a common cause of visual and sensory decline, often contributing to social isolation and decreased cognitive stimulation.

Not only that, some studies suggest that the altered exposure to light, typical of this disorder, could lead to a misalignment of circadian rhythms, i.e. an imbalance between sleep and wakefulness, with subsequent serious health consequences. Cataract surgery could, therefore, also help to counteract possible sleep disorders.

Finally, other studies have shown that people who undergo cataract surgery are also less likely to be involved in road accidents due to their regained visual acuity, which is no small benefit, also in terms of overall patient mortality.

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